January 19, 2012
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Former Army Spc. Hector Barajas sat at his computer in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. He logged into Facebook. He uploaded a photo of servicemembers celebrating their new U.S. citizenship in the White House Rose Garden, where they’d been sworn in.
“Interesting acknowledgment of service, loyalty and commitment to the U.S. and the change in [immigration laws] since 2001,” Barajas wrote. “What about those that have been forgotten or banished? Why do they not count?”
As pleased as he was to see the government pulling out all the stops to help foreign-born servicemembers become citizens, Barajas couldn’t help but feel down. The Mexican-born, U.S.-raised vet is among the thousands of so-called “banished veterans,” booted from the U.S. because of a law he and many others didn’t know existed until it was too late.
The 1996 law strips legal residents of their green cards and orders they be deported if they’re convicted of any number of crimes – from serious, violent felonies to possession of small amounts of marijuana – making no allowance to how long they’ve been in the U.S. or whether they’ve served in the military.
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